So the boy is off to Europe tomorrow. Last he was gone so long or so far, it was to Brooks with his grandparents or Japan with the school. This time it’s him and England and the continent; who knows what’ll come of it.

Overall I’m excited. Part of me worries his laissez fair attitude will find him stranded en route, but once he’s there I know he’ll do fine. I’m also sure it will take him about 12 hours to be bored, depressed and perhaps a little unsure of what the hell is going on. And that, is the point; at least for me. The last few generations have had to many other things to absorb to understand the benefits and pitfalls of independence. 6 weeks on your own with limited external resources should be exciting and epiphanaic in equal measure. One must move, decide, grow or failure is inevitable. Although failure is not deadly in this day and age, it is regrettable and really a waste. So get up, decide where to eat,where to go, who to hang with, what to spend for you are young…

Gaudeamus igitur, juveniles dum sumus made a lot of sense to me at that age, still does. I hope it will soon come to mean something to Zak.

But we’ll see.

Here’s to Zak’s big adventure! May he grow in ways that no one expects…